AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Owen’s gentle squeeze on my hand draws my eyes back to him. “Is this the first time you’ve seen him?”
I shake my head, uncertainty gnawing at me. “I thought I saw him at Books & Blots after Drake’s death, but then Horace arrived, and Bryant disappeared.”
Worry lines crease Owen’s brow, and he exchanges another glance with the others.
Ros breaks the silence, his gaze flickering between Haut and Owen. “Is there a chance he’s in the house?”
Haut shakes his head. “We would’ve smelled him if he were here. Just like we would’ve heard and smelled rodents in the walls.”
“So, it’s all in my head?” The words fall from my numb lips. “I’m crazy?”
Haut stops pacing to glare at me. “You’re not crazy.”
I pull my hand from Owen’s to clench the tangled curls at my temples. “My toaster will never be fixed.”
Tris comes around the bed, wrapping me in his arms. “Your toaster just needs a little break, sparky. You’re not sleeping, and it’s messing with your perception of reality. That’s why Dr. Lopez gave you the sleeping pills. You can’t work without power.”
Ros slips from the room. When he returns a moment later, he holds the bottle of sleeping pills that Dr. Lopez prescribed and a glass of water.
I hesitate, exhaustion and worry roiling inside. As Ros hands me the pills and the glass of water, I meet the worried gazes of my men, and that finally convinces me. With everything else going on, I can’t add the burden of my broken brain to the mix.
My hand shakes as I place the pills on my tongue, then chase them down with water.
Ros takes the glass back and sets it on the nightstand, along with the bottle of pills and his gun. Nudging Owen off the bed, Ros pulls back the comforter and quilt.
As I slip beneath it, warmth surrounds me, the heat from our bodies clinging to the blankets. Ros gestures for Owen to slide in next to me, and Owen cuddles close, leaving enough room for Ros to slip in beside him, close to his gun. Tris wiggles in on my other side, his body curling around mine until we practically share the same space on the mattress.
Haut walks to the wall to turn off the bedroom light but turns on the one in the hall. Then his body shimmers, and Greyson hops up onto the bed, draping his large body over our legs.
Surrounded by their body heat, the terror seeps away, and the pills take effect, dragging at my eyelids.
I blink slowly, startling back awake when a dark figure appears on the back of my lids, but eventually, I can’t resist the call of sleep, and my eyes don’t open again.
* * *
Morning light filters through the house as I shuffle toward the kitchen, the lingering traces of sleep clinging to me.
I feel both rested and like I could have stayed in bed for another few hours. But when I woke to find myself alone in bed, the memory of last night was enough to get me up and moving.
An ache fills my body, and my chemise irritates the love bites that cover my breasts and stomach. I had considered plastering my body with Band-Aids, but the thought of removing them later discouraged that idea.
The aroma of fresh coffee wafts through the air, and when I shuffle into the kitchen, I’m met with the comforting sight of Haut flipping pancakes at the stove.
The previous night’s terror lingers in the back of my mind, but the strange scratching that’s haunted me for the past week has vanished, leaving me with a newfound sense of hope.
Maybe everyone was right, and I just needed some sleep.
Owen rises from his place at the table to come over and pull me into his arms. “How are you feeling?”
I melt against his lean body. “A little groggy.”
He nuzzles my ear. “And your body?”
“I’m good.” I touch his chest where claws had ripped through his flesh yesterday. “How about you?”
“All healed up.” He kisses my temple and lets me go.
“Morning, sparky.” Tris greets me with a smile, his sandy-blond hair falling slightly into his golden-brown eyes. Concern fills his gaze as he holds out a cup of cocoa piled high with whipped cream.
